


Game Night

by ZombieHam



Series: Oh Dang, Feelings [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: EVERYONE IS ALIVE AND HAPPY, F/F, No Dark Room, No Storm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-12 11:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20563877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieHam/pseuds/ZombieHam
Summary: The girls of Blackwell have a game night in the dorm lounge. Chloe and Rachel use it as an opportunity to nudge Max into spending time with her crushes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh wow, it's been a thousand years since I've written any LiS fic. Hi, sorry for the delay.
> 
> This is a loose continuation from Teamwork, but both are pretty much standalone too.

The girls of Blackwell were having a small game night in the communal lounge in the girl’s dormitory, as they did every few weeks. The turnout varied each time, but tonight included Max, Rachel, Kate, Victoria, Dana, Juliet, and Brooke. Also Chloe, who was technically not invited since she wasn’t a student, but always snuck her way in anyway.

The lounge was fitted with a few couches and small tables, a large round table surrounded by chairs, and pretty big flatscreen television attached to the wall (but which hadn’t worked in months). One corner was a small kitchen with a fridge and microwave, as well as a few empty cupboards. A few weeks after the school year started it became apparent that anything left in the cupboards would be immediately stolen, so nobody used them anymore.

A pile of games sat on one of the small tables, offerings from the attendees who were now split into a few smaller groups.

-

Rachel, Victoria, and Dana were on one side of the large table playing some card games, barely speaking at all. While the three of them weren’t especially interested in the games, they were all very competitive and refused to be the first to give up. A notepad sat next to them, recording how many games each of them won.

“I’m surprised you decided to join us Victoria,” Rachel said after a long stretch of silence.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“I just figured you’d rather be partying.”

“Sadly this is all that’s going on tonight.”

Dana laughed. “Vicky there’s _ always _a party somewhere.”

“Don’t tell me the Queen of Blackwell actually enjoys our company?” Rachel asked with a smirk.

“You wish.”

-

On the other side of the large table, Brooke was attempting to explain her newly designed version of chess to Juliet, who looked frazzled and way out of her element.

“So hang on, there are five extra pieces?” Juliet asked.

Brooke nodded. “That’s right.”

“And this one zigzags like a snake?”

“Correct.”

“So you looked at chess and thought, _ hey you know what this needs? More rules! _”

Brooke crossed her arms. “We can play something else if-”

“Juliet Watson is not a quitter. Just...tell me what that piece does again.”

-

Max and Kate were sharing one couch, with Chloe somehow taking up the entire couch opposite them. The trio were playing Uno and chatting aimlessly about classes and movies they’d seen recently, though Chloe was spacing out every few minutes.

“Chloe?”

She snapped to attention. “Hmm? What’s up Max?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Max frowned. “You’re not really paying attention.”

“Yeah it’s just…” After a pause, Chloe threw down her cards with an exaggerated groan. “Max, Kate, I love you both. But Uno is a boring game for kids.”

“If you’re tired of losing you can always sit with the adults at the big-girl table,” Max said with a grin, gesturing at the larger round table.

Chloe looked up at the group playing cards. “That looks boring too,” she practically shouted.

Victoria looked in her direction and sighed. “I hate to agree with the punk, but she’s right. Cards with no stakes just isn’t worth it.”

Chloe stood and approached the group. “Stakes? You have my attention. What did you have in mind Tori?”

“Don’t call me that. But I think the best way to liven up this miserable gathering would be to put a friendly wager on things.”

“Or an unfriendly one. Now you’re takin’ sense though!” Chloe had a mischievous look on her face.

Rachel put a hand on Chloe’s arm. “Babe I know you’re excited, but you’re not exactly rolling in it. You can’t afford to gamble.”

“Me neither,” Juliet sighed.

“Yeah I think Victoria’s the only one here with money to burn,” Dana said.

“Agreed,” Brooke added.

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

Rachel’s face brightened. “Actually I have an idea.”

She grabbed the notepad, tore the first page off and began writing dot-points as she spoke.

“What if everyone bet favours instead?”

“How would that work?” Dana asked.

“Okay, everyone writes their name on some strips of paper. You all start with, say…10 of your own name, and that’s what you bet. At the end, if you have someone’s name, you can get them to do something for you.”

“I _ could _ use some help with an assignment,” Dana said with a glance at Brooke.

“I like the sound of making the princess clean my room,” Chloe said.

“No fucking way,” Victoria sneered at her.

Rachel smiled. “We’re definitely going to have to make some rules here, because your room is a nightmare and that would take Victoria an entire month.”

“Not to mention the therapy required,” Victoria said.

Rachel pointed at Victoria with the pen she was holding. “And the _ therapy _, Chloe!”

“Yeah yeah, I get it.”

“I love you but you gotta clean your own fucking room, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Fine!”

“So, restrictions then?”

The others gathered around Rachel and all began to talk over each other to offer suggestions. The discussion quickly became heated.

-

Kate looked over at the larger group. “Are they having fun or arguing?”

Max followed her gaze. “I think both?”

Kate smiled, but there was a tinge of sadness on her face.

“What’s up?” Max asked.

Kate sighed. “Sometimes...sometimes I wish I could be loud and outgoing like them. Actually go to a party for once instead of staying in my room.”

“I know what you mean. I want to do more, but I just feel so self-conscious. And if anyone raises their voice even _ near _me I feel like I’m gonna have a panic attack.”

“Same here.”

“People have fun in different ways I guess. It’s not bad if you prefer the quiet. I do too.”

Kate smiled. “Thankyou Max. You always make me feel better.”

“That’s what I’m here for!” Max said, trying to fight away the blush creeping on her cheeks.

-

After the group had squabbled for nearly 10 minutes, Rachel put the pen down. “Okay, I think we’ve got it.”

The majority of the paper was used to define an “acceptable favour”, making sure there were no loopholes that could be used to make someone do anything illegal, disgusting, or extremely embarrassing. A single favour could take no longer than 1 hour, and couldn’t cost the favour-giver any money. It was also agreed that at the end of the night, if two people owed each other a favour they could agree to cancel them both out. Finally, all favours had to be used within the next 2 weeks, or they would be wasted.

“If everyone agrees, sign the paper so nobody can weasel out of it,” Rachel said.

Chloe, Victoria, Dana, Juliet and Brooke all signed.

“Fantastic, I hope you all have fun.” Rachel turned to leave.

“Rach, you’re not playing?” Chloe asked.

She turned back. “Gambling is not one of my many talents. I’m just here to make things more interesting,” She smirked, threw Chloe a wink, and went to join Max and Kate.

Chloe watched Rachel walk away, then rushed back to the couches and threw her arms around Max from behind, catching her by surprise and making her flinch.

“Aahh! What’s going on?” Max asked, trying unsuccessfully to flail her way free.

Kate put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Chloe rested her head on Max’s shoulder. “Maaaaax! You gotta help me win. I want Tori to owe me _big_.”

“Okay but-”

“And I don’t wanna owe her shit,” Choe finished.

“I’m not sure what I could do.”

“Oh come on! All you have to do is use your-” Chloe gave Kate a nervous glance, “Uhh. Use your sweet poker skills.”

“My...Oh, right.” Max sighed. “Well what if you end up owing _ me _favours instead?”

“That’s fine! You wouldn’t make me do anything bad, right?”

“I guess not,” Max conceded.

“I would,” Rachel said. “If you win some favours from Chloe, can I have some?”

Max smiled. “Sure.”

Chloe responded with an extremely exaggerated gasp.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game has begun, and so has the drama.

“Kate, are you okay if I play with the others for a while?” Max asked.

“That’s fine Max,” she replied with an unconvincing smile.

Rachel plonked down on the couch opposite. “I’ll keep Katie company, you go be Chloe’s hero.”

Kate looked at Rachel gratefully, her smile becoming genuine.

“Alright, we’ll be back soon then,” Chloe said. “Go easy on her Rach.”

“No promises.” Rachel winked.

Max waved goodbye as Chloe put an arm over her shoulder, and the pair made their way to the larger group.

“Alright bitches, we got one more player,” Chloe announced.

Everyone at the larger table looked up, and Victoria’s eyes widened momentarily.

“ _ You’re  _ gambling, Caulfield?” she said.

“Is that a problem?” Max asked as she signed her name underneath the others on the notepad.

“I’m just worried you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. A Chase never loses.”

Max looked up a slight smirk, crossing her arms. “We’ll see about that.”

Victoria didn’t quite know how to handle this display of confidence. In the span of a second her expression swapped between anger, confusion, and admiration. Finally it settled back to a neutral look betraying nothing.

“Whatever.” She turned to talk to Dana instead.

Chloe leaned closer to Max. “Hey Time Wizard, you ever played poker before?” she whispered.

“Not exactly.”

“Alright. I’ll quickly explain the rules and then you can rewind, cool?”

“Super cool.”

\-- 

Max had talked with Chloe and Rachel about her powers a lot since she got them a few months ago. Max agreed never to rewind on them without their knowledge, unless it was for a good reason (embarrassment didn’t count). They experimented a bit, usually in the junkyard, using Max’s “psychic powers, basically” to guess what they had in their pockets, or just tell them the next song that would play on the radio.

After a while they got a bit bolder. One time when Max was called on in class and didn’t know the answer, Rachel looked straight at her and told her exactly what to say, then told her to rewind. This happened a few times later, with Chloe or Rachel giving Max advice on what to say to other people, then giving her permission to reverse time. They quickly agreed on a signal for Max to give when she had finished rewinding, so the other two would know they didn’t need to give her any advice, since they already did it. They settled on the “okay” gesture.

They had decided on a different gesture for “sorry I had to rewind for serious and possibly life threatening reasons that I can’t talk about in public, but just play it cool”, but Max hadn’t needed to use it yet. And hopefully never would.

“Hey Time Wizard, you ev-”

Max looked at her and gave her the “okay” gesture. Chloe stopped talking and nodded, glad she could help. Or would have helped. Whatever.

The pair took seats next to each other at the round table. Clockwise there was Chloe, Max, Victoria, Dana, Juliet, and Brooke, the latter of which was shuffling the deck. Juliet put a sheet from the notepad in front of everyone, instructing them all to tear off 10 pieces and write their names on them. They only had one pen between the six of them though, so it took a while. Once the cards were dealt out, they were ready.

Even though she knew the rules, Max completely messed up the first round. Twice. The third time repeating it went better, she didn’t win but she folded early so Dana only got one of her names. She folded again the next two rounds, trying to minimise her loses as much as possible.

“Max, I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but can’t you use your you-know-what to actually _win_ some?” Chloe whispered as the next round began.

“Believe me, I’m not losing as badly as I was before.”

“That’s great, but it doesn’t really help.”

“Okay, let me try something.”

Max put her cards down and stood up, immediately drawing all eyes to her.

“What’s going on?” Juliet asked.

“Nothing.”

Victoria put her cards down as Max walked behind her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

“I’m just cheating, don’t worry about it.”

Max raised her right hand and started turning back time, watching as Victoria turned back to the game and picked up her cards. Max looked at the cards over her shoulder, trying to memorise each one before letting time flow as normal again.

Everyone at the table jumped in shock as from their perspective Max had teleported behind Victoria. From the other side of the room Kate made the sound she always made when she was surprised, something between a squeak and a gasp. Chloe and Rachel just gave each other knowing smiles.

“What the  _ fuck? _ ” Dana and Juliet said in unison.

“Magic!” Max shouted as she ran behind Dana.

She repeated the process for each player: moving into position, looking at their cards as they moved in reverse, delighting in their surprise at seeing her teleport. Finally after looking at Chloe’s cards, she sat down and rewound back to the start of the round, back before the cards had even been dealt out. There was a dull throb at the front of her head but she could power through it.

Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but Max cut her off with the signal.

“Alright then,” she said.

\--

Rachel and Kate had played the first few Uno games in total silence. While they were in the same photography class, they hadn’t really spent any time together outside of class.

“This is weird, right?” Rachel asked with a smile.

“A little. We don’t really hang out.”

“Well maybe we should, Marshmallow! What’s stopping us?”

“You’re popular! And I’m…”

“Oh please, popularity’s bullsh-...it’s bull. And you’re wonderful Kate, I feel like I know you already just from what Max had told me about you.”

Kate’s cheeks flushed a little. “Wh-what did she say?”

“Nothing much, just that you’re kind, smart, talented, funny, and one of the best friends someone could have.”

Kate’s face broke into a huge grin.

Rachel looked back down at her cards. “Oh, also that you’re as cute as a button,” she added.

She didn’t have to look back up to know Kate’s face was absolutely burning.

\--

While Dana was dealing out cards for the next round, Juliet’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked it with a smile, Dana watching her with a smirk.

“How  _ are  _ things going with Zach?” Dana asked.

Juliet sighed as she put her phone back down, though her smile remained. “Great at the moment, but I’m so worried things are going to fall apart.”

Dana nodded. “I get that. It’s the same with Trevor, good now but how long will that last?”

There were a few moments of silence before Juliet looked over at Victoria. “What about Blackwell’s Queen Bee? Got your eye on anyone?” she asked.

Victoria frowned. “Are you looking for your next big scoop?”

“Just curious,” Juliet said with a shrug.

Victoria hesitated. She chewed her lip and looked off into the distance, apparently thinking seriously about her response. After a few seconds, her usual scowl returned to her face. “None of the boys in this school are good enough for me.”

“I hear that, boys are gross,” Chloe said.

“That’s pretty gay!” Rachel shouted from across the room.

“Thanks babe!”

Chloe turned her attention from her girlfriend to her best friend next to her, nudging her with an elbow. “How ‘bout you Maximus? Anyone special?”

“Um.” Max looked down at her lap, already feeling her cheeks heat up.

“What about _Warren_?” Brooke snapped, staring daggers at Max.

Max looked back up with wide eyes. “No way, he’s just a friend!”

“Are you sure? I’ve seen him following you around like a lost puppy,” Juliet said.

Dana tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. “He’s  _ kind of _ cute, in a nerdy sort of way.”

“Dude, he’s like 16,” Chloe said.

“Oh ew, nevermind.”

Brooke shook her head. “17 actually.” She turned back to Max. “You’re seriously not crushing on Warren?”

“No, I swear,” Max said.

Brooke’s chair tipped backwards and fell to the ground as she stood up with surprising speed. “Why don’t you tell  _ him  _ that?” she shouted at Max.

Max stood up too. “I have!”

“Bullshit.”

“She actually has,” Chloe said, standing up as well.

Victoria stood too, crossing her arms. “I can confirm that actually. I’ve seen Maxine turn down his advances several times, in no uncertain terms. She made it very clear, but he’s a persistent one.”

Silence. Brooke’s anger faded, and she looked embarrassed as she picked up her chair and sat back down. She lifted up her glasses and rubbed her face with her hands as the others slowly sat back down too.

“Fuck. I’m sorry Max, you didn’t deserve me yelling at you,” Brooke mumbled. “I mean I’m still mad, but now I’m mad at  _ him _ for being so stubborn and thinking he still has a chance with you.”

Max shook her head. “It’s okay Brooke, there’s no chance at all. I’m not even into boys at all.”

The silence returned, but this time all eyes were on Max. Some were surprised, some puzzled, and Chloe and Rachel were looking at her with pride. Max’s own eyes widened as she realised what she just admitted, and she lifted her hand to rewind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max has to live with the truth she just revealed about herself. She also has to cheat at cards.
> 
> (Also I might be taking some liberties with how the rewind powers work, but oh well.)

Before Max could bring her hand up from under the table, Chloe grabbed it and forced it back down to her lap.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Chloe said quietly.

“Let go!”

“No Max, this is a good thing. Trust me, don’t take it back.”

Max screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She gave a small nod, and Chloe let go of her hand.

“Hey, I’m proud of you,” Chloe said, this time loud enough for others to hear too.

“So am I,” Dana said. “It can be hard to talk about personal stuff.”

Max opened her eyes and blinked away a few tears. She gave a slight smile.

“How long have you known?” Juliet asked.

Max shrugged. “I dunno. I was just never interested in boys. Some of my friends were, they tried to match me with some guys but I never got the appeal.”

Juliet nodded. “But girls though?”

Max’s smile grew wider and she felt her cheeks heat up. “Yeah. Girls.”

She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t really need to, the dreamy look on her face said it all.

Victoria hummed. “Honestly Caulfield,” she paused, considering her next words carefully. “...It seems you have _ some _sense. Considering the lacklustre male options around here, girls might be the right choice.”

“Sexuality isn’t really a choice,” Brooke said with a frown.

“Whatever, my point stands.”

There was a brief silence as everyone processed what had been said so far. Max was still shaking a bit from the leftover anxiety, but now she knew they supported her.

“Well then Max, are there any _ girls _you-” Juliet started.

“Switch off reporter-mode, she’s been grilled enough for tonight,” Dana said as she gave Juliet a light shove.

Juliet shoved Dana back. Just like that, the mood turned lighthearted again.

\--

As the women at the larger table resumed their game and moved on to other topics, Rachel turned back to Kate who was looking down at her hands with a slight blush on her cheeks. While Rachel tended to be a fairly intense person, she had learned to adjust her energy to suit those around her. Her instinct in this kind of situation was to tease her friends in a playful way. For Kate, she knew she would have to tone things down a _ lot _.

“Hey, are you alright?” Rachel asked.

Kate jumped, and her eyes snapped back up to look at Rachel. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

Rachel looked back at the other table. Satisfied nobody else was paying attention, she turned back to Kate and lowered her voice. “It just seems like Max’s confession got to you a little.”

Kate’s eyes widened.

Rachel thought for a moment, tilting her head and studying the other girl. “I’m guessing it’s not because of your faith. You don’t really strike me as the judgemental type.”

“Oh no, I’m really not. _ Love thy neighbour _, you know.”

“And is there a specific neighbour you’re referring to?”

Kate looked down.

“Kate, you don’t have to tell me anything. But if you do, I’ll keep it to myself.”

Kate swallowed. She looked back up, but seemed too embarrassed to make eye-contact. “I guess...I’m kind of jealous. I wish I could be that open and honest about...about…”

“About...liking girls?”

Kate screwed her eyes shut and nodded quickly.

Rachel reached across the table and grabbed Kate’s hand.

“Kate?”

She opened her eyes, now welling up with tears.

“I’m proud of you, and I’m here for you. Platonically, I mean.”

Kate smiled. “Thankyou Rachel. That means a lot.”

Still unobserved by the others, the pair sat in silence for a minute before Kate pulled her hand back and wiped her eyes.

“To be honest, this is something I’ve suspected for a little while,” Rachel said.

Kate let out an exhausted laugh as she picked up her cards again. “It’s that obvious?”

“Probably not to everyone, but after a lifetime of studying the human condition you learn to pick up a few things.” Rachel leaned in and lowered her voice even further. “Things like...the way you look at Max.”

Immediately Kate threw down her cards and covered her face with her hands. “Nooooooo,” she said, voice soft and muffled as she sank down on the couch.

\--

After a few more rounds using the power of cheating, Max was tied with Victoria for the most favours owed, with Brooke close behind. Chloe had already lost all of her names but had managed to snag 2 each from the others, keeping her in the game.

Max had gotten a bit more bold with her rewind powers, experimenting to see if she could use it to swap cards from her hand with those in the deck, or even the other players’ hands. It worked, and she quickly learned that as long as she did it before anyone saw which cards they had, nobody would notice the swap.

As the rounds continued and Max won most of them (occasionally letting others win a few to avoid suspicion), a tiny voice at the back of her head told her that what she was doing was wrong. It was the same voice that spoke up whenever she used her powers to gain the upper hand in a conversation or take back a mistake, and she always imagined it sounding like Kate.

She knew she should stop. But this was just a game, it was just for fun. And she wouldn’t abuse the favours like some of the other players would if they won. She might not even call on any of the favours anyway. If anything, maybe cheating like this would be better for everyone than if she’d just played (and lost) normally.

That was how Max justified it to herself, at least. But as she rewound and swapped some cards around, the ever-increasing pain in her head intensified. It felt like needles were stabbing into her brain. When she lowered her hand and time began flowing forwards again, the pain and pressure lessened a bit but she felt faint. The others looked at her with concern.

“Max, your nose!” Dana said.

Max touched under her nose with a shaky hand, feeling the warm blood starting to leak down to her lips. She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and held it there to block the flow.

“Mmm okay,” she slurred.

“Might be too much excitement for you Max, maybe you should go lie down,” Chloe said.

“No I jus’ need...yeah. Sleep’s good.”

“C’mon, let’s get you back to your room.”

Chloe helped Max up and let the shorter girl lean most of her weight on her as the pair left the room, though Max’s uneven steps slowed them both down.

Seeing Max’s strange behaviour made Victoria go pale. “What the fuck is wrong? Is she going to be okay?” she asked, sounding the most concerned anyone had heard her sound before.

Chloe looked at Rachel. “Rach, can you-?”

“On it.”

Rachel sprang up from the couch, ready to lie about Max’s near-fainting spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a short epilogue soon, then onto the next story!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe needs to make sure Max is alright, and Rachel needs to explain the situation. And then they both need to MEDDLE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue ended up being longer than planned, it's pretty much as long as the other chapters. It was just too dang fun to write :)

“Chloeeeeee where we goin’?”

“You nearly passed out Max, you’re going to bed.”

“You’re taking me t’bed? Does Rachel know?”

“Geez, you really overdid it. You sound drunk.”

“No  _ you’re  _ drunk!”

“Sure, Max.”

By the time Chloe finally got Max into her room, she was practically dead weight. She lay Max down on her bed and removed her shoes and belt.

“Sorry for the grope, just trying to make you comfy,” Chloe said as she felt for Max’s phone in her jeans pocket, then moved it to the bedside table.

When she was satisfied that Max would be comfortable, Chloe wrapped her in a blanket and sat on the bed next to her.

“Sorry you’ve gotta sleep in your clothes, I know you’d be hella embarrassed in the morning if you remembered I undressed you.”

Max didn’t respond. She was completely passed out, snoring quietly. Chloe sighed as she ran a hand through her blue hair.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. When I asked you to help I didn’t think you’d go all out like this. You’re always giving your all to help your friends, even when it hurts you.” She sighed again. “You’re too good Max, we don’t deserve you.”

Chloe grabbed a nearby glass and took it to the bathroom, giving it a quick rinse before filling it with water and returning to Max’s room. She put it on the bedside table, hopefully far enough away that Max wouldn’t spill it when she fumbled for her phone later.

“I’ll check on you in the morning. Sweet dreams Max.”

\--

When Chloe returned to the lounge, the others were all seated at the round table. They all looked up at her with worry on their faces, except for Rachel who gave a weak smile.

“Is she okay?” Kate asked.

Chloe nodded. “Yeah, just needs rest. She’ll be all good in the morning.”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“I know Max is an anxious person, but I didn’t know anxiety could do  _ that _ to someone,” Juliet said.

Chloe looked at Juliet, then raised an eyebrow as she looked at Rachel.

“I told them about our dear Maxine’s stress and anxiety,” Rachel said. “I know she wanted to keep it to herself, but I think it’s important everyone knows the truth.”

Chloe nodded again. Her, Rachel and Max had planned for this situation a few weeks before, when they realised that Max’s powers would always have these side-effects if she used them too much. Obviously they couldn’t tell the truth, but they had to come up with  _ something  _ to stop people worrying if they noticed and thought Max had a brain tumour or something. They agreed to tell people that Max didn’t handle stress or anxiety very well (technically true, just unrelated), and if she overexerted herself she’d get headaches, dizzy spells, and even a bloody nose. 

It was a lie, but a plausible one.

As the group sat in silence, Chloe looked at the piles of names in front of everyone. “Damn, Max really cleaned house, huh?”

Rachel laughed. “I knew she’d kick your asses.”

“Is  _ that  _ why you didn’t want to play?” Brooke asked.

“Oh yeah. Suckers!” Rachel winked.

“She hustled us?” Juliet asked.

Victoria’s eyes widened. “I’m too impressed to be mad. Honestly I didn’t think Maxine had it in her.”

“She’s full of surprises tonight,” Dana agreed.

Juliet started collecting the cards to put away. “I think I’m done. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still kind of freaked out from Max’s health scare.”

The others nodded as they started collecting the names representing the favours they were now owed.

“Chloe, can you make sure Max gets the names she won?” Dana asked.

As Chloe reached for them, Victoria flung up an arm to block her.

“No way, I don’t trust her not to take them for herself. Rachel, can you…” Victoria thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Kate, can  _ you  _ get them to Maxine?”

“No problem.” Kate took a blank page from the notepad and quickly folded it into an envelope, then all of Max’s slips of paper inside.

Everyone collected their things and started dispersing to their respective rooms. Rachel, Chloe and Kate were the last ones in the lounge. Chloe yawned and stretched, her spine making a few popping sounds.

“Bed time?” Chloe asked Rachel with a not-so-subtle eyebrow waggle.

“I’ll be there in a minute. I just want to have a quick chat with Kate here first.”

“Cool, see you there. Night Kate.”

“Goodnight Chloe,” Kate replied.

After watching Chloe saunter out of the room, Kate turned to Rachel “Um. What did you want to talk about?”

“My dear sweet precious Kate Marsh. We need to talk about Max.”

“Oh lord.”

\--

Chloe wandered down the hallway to Rachel’s room, hesitating with a hand on the doorknob. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the few strips of paper indicating favours she could call on, 1 from Max and 4 from Victoria.

“Fuck it.” She let go of the handle and kept walking, and when she reached Victoria’s door she gave 2 loud knocks. “Yo Chase, open up!”

She heard a frustrated groan from behind the door, then it opened to reveal Victoria wearing expensive looking silk pyjamas and with a look of anger on her face.

“What the fuck do you want, Price?”

“I just want to talk.”

“Too bad, I’m not in the mood.”

Victoria tried to shut the door, but Chloe pushed against it with one hand as she held out one strip of paper with the other.

“A 5-minute conversation for one favour,” Chloe said, slowly waving the paper back and forth as if trying to tempt her.

Victoria hesitated, considering her options.

“Come on Tori, I know you hate owing me anything. If I call in this easy favour now, that’s one less thing you’ll have to do for me later.”

“Fine. 5 minutes.”

Victoria opened the door fully and stepped aside to let Chloe in. She held out a hand, and Chloe slapped the piece of paper into it with far more force than was necessary.

“Ouch. Okay punk, clock’s ticking. What’s so important?” Victoria crossed her arms and glared.

Chloe sat down on the bed and smirked. “Victoria Chase, we need to talk about Max.”

“...Oh fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max acting kind of drunk was fun to write, I'm definitely going to find an excuse to write it again sometime.
> 
> This is the end of Game Night, Thankyou for your support, and I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm planning to continue this series though, soon it will be time for incredibly awkward dates.
> 
> \--
> 
> Oh, in case y'all are curious, I did actually work out who owed favours to whom, because at the time I thought it would be more relevant. Maybe I'll do more with it in future stories.
> 
> Names everyone had at the end:
> 
> Max : 1 Max, 7 Chloe, 2 Victoria, 1 Dana, 3 Juliet, 2 Brooke  
Chloe: 1 Max, 4 Victoria  
Victoria: 2 Max, 1 Chloe, 3 Dana, 3 Juliet, 2 Victoria, 3 Brooke  
Dana: 2 Max, 1 Chloe, 4 Juliet  
Juliet: 1 Max, 1 Chloe, 2 Dana, 2 Brooke  
Brooke: 3 Max, 2 Victoria, 4 Dana, 3 Brooke
> 
> Which means that once favours are cancelled out:
> 
> Max owes Dana and Brooke 1 favour each.  
Chloe owes Max 6 favours, and Dana and Juliet 1 favour each.  
Victoria owes Chloe 3 favours.  
Dana owes Victoria 3 favours, and Brooke 4 favours.  
Juliet owes Victoria 3 favours, and both Max and Dana 2 favours.  
Brooke owes Victoria 1 favour, and Juliet 2 favours.


End file.
